Extracellular Vesicle/Macrophage Axis: Potential Targets for Inflammatory Disease Intervention

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can regulate the polarization of macrophages in a variety of inflammatory diseases by mediating intercellular signal transduction and affecting the occurrence and development of diseases. After macrophages are regulated by EVs, they mainly show two phenotypes: the proinflammatory M1 type and the anti-inflammatory M2 type. A large number of studies have shown that in diseases such as mastitis, inflammatory bowel disease, Acute lung injury, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, EVs promote the progression of the disease by inducing the M1-like polarization of macrophages. In diseases such as liver injury, asthma, and myocardial infarction, EVs can induce M2-like polarization of macrophages, inhibit the inflammatory response, and reduce the severity of the disease, thus indicating new pathways for treating inflammatory diseases. The EV/macrophage axis has become a potential target for inflammatory disease pathogenesis and comprehensive treatment. This article reviews the structure and function of the EV/macrophage axis and summarizes its biological functions in inflammatory diseases to provide insights for the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory diseases.

“Liquid biopsy” - extracellular vesicles as potential novel players towards precision medicine in asthma

“…MSCs-EVs are the hot spot of current research as they have been identified to inherit the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties of stem cells, inducing the M2 polarization of macrophages, reducing inflammation, while avoiding the disadvantage of stem cells such as tumorigenicity ( 46 ). Importantly, MSCs-EVs present a specificity of the EV/macrophage axis ( 46 ).…”

“…MSCs-EVs are the hot spot of current research as they have been identified to inherit the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties of stem cells, inducing the M2 polarization of macrophages, reducing inflammation, while avoiding the disadvantage of stem cells such as tumorigenicity ( 46 ). Importantly, MSCs-EVs present a specificity of the EV/macrophage axis ( 46 ). In allergic rhinitis, human MSCs-EVs could inhibit the differentiation of Th2 cells via the regulation of the miR-146a-5p/SERPINB2 pathway ( 92 ), which shall be extrapolated for allergic inflammation of lower airways.…”

“…The growing appreciation of macrophage plasticity and polarization in asthma pathogenesis reflects the pro-inflammatory properties of M1 polarized macrophages and the anti-inflammatory properties of M2 polarized macrophages ( 44 – 46 ). M2-like alveolar macrophages were reported to secrete suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-1 and SOCS-3 proteins within EVs ( 47 , 48 ).…”

The Applications and Potentials of Extracellular Vesicles from Different Cell Sources in Periodontal Regeneration

“…In terms of pathogenesis, CEVs can act as a shuttle or biomarker for inflammation, and were involved in the progression of various tissue inflammation [ 42 ]. In terms of therapy, a large number of studies have shown that SCEVs and ICEVs (sEVs were mainly discussed below) have powerful immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects on various inflammatory diseases such as periodontitis [ 43 , 44 , 45 ].…”

The Emerging Role of Extracellular Vesicles and Autophagy Machinery in NASH—Future Horizons in NASH Management

“…The amount of integrin-beta 1-containing EVs is found to be elevated in NASH patients with mild fibrotic injury, compared to patients with steatosis, which is attributed to their association with monocytes recruitment. It has to be noted that the aforementioned phenomenon implies their possible use as disease biomarkers [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ]. Moreover, the enhancement of chemotaxis and the aggravation of the inflammatory state is also induced by the transmembrane protein IRE1a, which induces the release of a great amount of EVs in the extracellular milieu.…”